Police headquarters
The need to extend the offices of the police headquarters in Cagliari, with the intent to heal a discontinuity in the existing urban fabric, leads to a one block building but formally compared to the characteristics of the current. The corner position that the lot assumes in the context, characterized by the confluence of streets that host public functions such as schools, courts and banks, is very important.
The project includes a main building divided into a block, with a vaulted roof, with 5 floors, and a triangular head element with the elevator, the staircase and the reception. The two elements are formally separated by a vertical void which marks the street corner along the entire facade. On the corner it is also the main entrance hall, highlighted by a column indicating the rotation between the two facades. The portion used for offices and housing is formed from a two fllors high travertine basement, topped by a glass facade marked by metal profiles. The plinth is crowned by a molding that separates it from the mesh window and which, running around the corner, reconnects the two facades. The head element is limited to the road by a septum covered with travertine. Towards the inner square are the elevator tower and the back stairs and the balcony on the top floor of the houses. The old and the new building are connected, on the first floor, through a covered walkway.
Structural project: Ing. Giuseppe Portoghese
Published in: Architettura in Sardegna dall'unità di'Italia alla fine del novecento; Guida all'architettura Moderna: Italia; Guida all’architettura contemporanea di Cagliari 1945-1995
Client: Provincia di Cagliari
Project date: 1998
Construction: 1998
